The design yield strength is associated with the member’s material grade as defined in Table 6-3 of the CISC handbook of Steel Construction, Seventh Edition. To assign the grade for a member the engineer selects the appropriate material type using the Criteria – Canada Parameters command in the RAM Manager. In the RAM Modeler the engineer assigns a nominal yield strength (Fy) to the column section. Based on the combination of the nominal yield strength and the material type a grade are selected. For example, a nominal Fy of 350N/mm² and a material type W results in a section of grade 350W. Note that a nominal yield strength slightly less than 350N/mm² will result in a section of grade 300W. If no appropriate grade is available (based on the user-entered values) then the design yield strength will effectively be set to 0.0 and NoGrade will be assigned as the grade for the section.